Posted by John Lambert on August 27, 2008 at 18:20:01 user John.
In Reply to: Re: Arthur Ransome isn't loved? posted by Ed Kiser on August 27, 2008 at 17:34:01:
See if I can get this posted before anyone else beats me to it: Enid Blyton is a well-known English writer of children's stories familiar to anyone with British roots. Their chief appeal is to children a bit younger than the AR audience, but the plots are a little contrived, the characters fail to come alive (for me, at any rate) and the dialogue a bit stilted. But whom am I to judge? As soon as I was introduced to AR, Edin Blyton was knocked into a cocked hat. A few years ago I inquired at my local library if they had any of her books, but the librarian sniffed and told me they hadn't because they contained elements of racism and sexism. What a pity that political correctness has invaded even the realm of children's literature.
Another writer of stories for children you may have missed is Edith Nesbit. Many of her tales contain magic, but magic that normal everyday children might encounter (!). They are set in the late Victorian or Edwardian era, and were quite a departure from usual children's literature of the time in that they were not didactic in any way. The children talked and acted like real children. The Railway Children is her most famous book, made into a movie twice. Although it may be heresy to say it, I hold EN and AR in about the same regard. I came across both writers as a child - which may explain it.